


I'll be home for Christmas

by itotoro



Category: TWICE (Band)
Genre: Childhood Friends, F/F, FLUFF I SWEAR, dahyun came back from a term abroad, midnight playground conversations, my beta said it's hot chocolate, nayeon is in the feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-23
Updated: 2020-12-23
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:40:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,123
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28255548
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/itotoro/pseuds/itotoro
Summary: Nayeon meets Dahyun on the swings of their childhood playground. It's the 23rd of December, Dahyun had just come home from France, and Nayeon's heart is about to burst.
Relationships: Im Nayeon/Kim Dahyun
Comments: 10
Kudos: 151
Collections: Fic/Art Exchange (The Fic/Art Tinder)





	I'll be home for Christmas

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Fic-Art Exchange by Keiyuu. See rems' lovely partner art here: https://twitter.com/randerems/status/1343400522049486855

It was an old habit for Nayeon to seek Dahyun out on Sunday nights as much as it was a habit for her to sit on the right of two swings in the old neighborhood playground. She was there, now, with Dahyun on her left, cobble below her worn sneakers and the smog-covered night sky above the hazy orange streetlights. As habits go, this was one of the oldest ones; starting all the way in elementary, before Nayeon's family moved across the city.

Nayeon rubbed her nose. It was half past midnight. The month was December, the day two nights before Christmas. Snow had fallen a couple weeks ago, remnants of it in thin sheets of sleet on the playground curbside. It was a miracle that Nayeon hadn't crashed her car while parking it in front of the 7-11 across the street.

"How was the trip?" Nayeon asked, smushing her shoe into the cobble as she pushed herself to and fro in the swing. "Did you bring me anything good?"

Dahyun chuckled. "Of course I did! You told me to buy you something every week." She was bundled up from head to toe, a thick knitted bonnet on her head and a wool-lined jacket over her sweater. She tugged on her scarf, her breath condensing in the winter air. "If you come to my house you can pick it up-"

"Eww, not yet," Nayeon whined, pulling the hood of her winter jacket closer to her neck. "Give it to me on Christmas eve." It was another habit, the Ims and the Kims setting up a small get-together to celebrate the holidays together. This year Nayeon's parents decided on a two-night trip in a ski resort up north, renting out a family cottage big enough for a whole clan.

"Suit yourself, eonni," Dahyun shrugged, tapping Nayeon's shin with her winter boot. "It's nice to see you in person again."

Dahyun had just come home from France, a scholarship-funded excursion that lasted the better of fall and winter. Nayeon missed her terribly, as childhood friends do. And a little more, because Nayeon loved Dahyun a little more than a childhood friend should.

"Cause you can kick my shin in person?" Nayeon joked, because if she said anything more sincere she might spill her heart out on the cobble.

"Not just that!" Dahyun kicked her shin a little harder, but not enough to hurt.

"Ow!" Nayeon rubbed her shin with a gloved hand. "You big meanie. Is that what you did in France?"

"I'm being serious, eonni. You're always joking when I'm trying to be nice."

"You're only ever mean to me-"

Dahyun kicked her again, more forceful. Nayeon chuckled. "That's only because you won't stop talking, eonni."

It was true, but only because silence made Nayeon too aware of how her insides jumbled up in Dahyun's company. Any longer and Dahyun might hear how her tell-tale heart is beating faster than it should.

She changed the subject. "How's the jetlag?"

Dahyun's boots crunched on the cobble as she rocked herself on the swing, shoulders pressed on the chains. "Not as bad as when I went there. I'm still wide awake now, but I definitely won't be waking up early tomorrow."

"Eight hours, right?"

"Yeah! And over there I slept at midnight all the time, so now I'm not going to sleep until early in the morning." Dahyun pressed the scarf to her face. "It's nice, though. Being back home."

That was what Nayeon felt, too, having Dahyun here beside her, not eight hours and a laptop screen away. Pixels did not capture the strands of hair tucked in Dahyun’s scarf, did not catch her soft hums as it caught in the night air. 

The piece of her home that flew away on a fall afternoon now settled in her chest after months of distance. 

When had Dahyun become such a fixture in her life?

"Hey," said Nayeon," remember that time you got hit by a bike in elementary?"

Dahyun's smile peeked over her scarf. "You'll never let me hear the end of it, won't you?"

Nayeon put a hand on her chest in mock horror. "What, it's a valuable memory to me! "

"It was funny. I got bumped by the newspaper boy-"

"Hey! You were bawling, wailing my name as I carried you to your house-"

"You were crying harder than me! You told my mom that I was gonna die!"

It was true. Nayeon had always been the more rambunctious of the two of them, Dahyun always telling her to be more careful when they played on the curbside. Nayeon was always the one getting scrapes from falling off swings, Dahyun nagging her every time.

Seeing Dahyun hurt had woken up something worse than fear in Nayeon's mind, made her realize that Dahyun was more than just a family friend.

It was also the first time Dahyun ever hugged her. A real, tender hug that Dahyun had never given to anyone else before. It came in a surprise, Nayeon still wiping her nose of snot after finding out that the worst thing that could happen to Dahyun was a mild sprain.

Nayeon's heart beat a little faster since then.

"Well," said Nayeon, "I'm glad I was wrong." She blew warm air into her hands, the heat soothing her face.

"It's nice in hindsight," Dahyun grinned, "and you stopped trying to jump off the swing after that. "

Nayeon only stopped that because Dahyun started trying it out. After the bike incident Nayeon made it a habit to keep an eye on Dahyun at all times, and after the near scrape with death Dahyun had grown more daring of her own volition.

It was funny until Dahyun tried to climb the monkey bars upside down.

Dahyun cut Nayeon's train of thought. "When did we start this tradition, eonni? The Sunday night playground conversations."

They had always spent Sundays together, even back when Dahyun wore diapers and Nayeon tried eating non-toxic crayons. "Well, it used to be Sunday afternoons," said Nayeon, pressing the balls of her feet on the cobble. She swung with a steady rhythm. "All the kids in the neighborhood were older than us, so we didn't really play on the playground until elementary."

"But the conversations, eonni. Was it when you stayed over?"

That was the first overnight, long before Nayeon moved out of their old house. She halted her swing, cobble loud beneath her sneakers. "Oh yeah, your mom let us visit the 7-11 by ourselves."

Dahyun smiled at her hands. "Yeah! You were in your second year of high school then."

It was a five minute walk from Dahyun's house, and from Nayeon's house back when she lived across the street. Dahyun bought a hot chocolate and Nayeon bought herself a convenience store coffee for the first time. The weather was warmer and the stars shone in the sky that night.

Seeing the neighborhood so quiet, the streets empty of people, it felt to Nayeon like a different world that only she and Dahyun had access to. Silence brought intimacy, opened a space between them that gave room for Nayeon’s feelings to grow.

Nayeon’s family moved across the city in the summer after her highschool graduation. The playground had since become a twenty-minute train ride and a ten minute walk away from her house, except on days when Nayeon lingered long enough to miss the last train. Now it was a twenty-minute drive, and faster if she was in a rush.

"Hey, you're lucky your mom didn't get mad at us." Nayeon rubbed her nose. The cold was getting to her.

"Those kinds of things, they really stay in my mind for a long time." Dahyun bent down, picking up a small rock then throwing it across the playground. The sound clattered from afar, lost in the rustling of the trees of the neighborhood. "In France, the town I was at, the sky was a lot clearer."

"Neat. You can't see the stars here anymore unless it rains or snows."

"Home is home, though. I grew up here." Dahyun sighed, shoulders relaxing. “It’s good to be back.”

They sank into silence. Nayeon watched Dahyun rock herself back and forth on the swing, Dahyun’s face soft in the light of the streetlamp. Already the silence was giving Nayeon’s heart too much space to breathe.

This was home, beside Dahyun, and it was frightening how eagerly Nayeon’s heart latched on to that fact. The three months of distance had changed something in her heart, no longer content with simply sitting beside Dahyun on the swings.

Dahyun turned to her. Nayeon had been staring. 

She looked away. Faked a sneeze. “Jeez,” she said, rubbing her nose, “must have been a lot warmer in France.”

Dahyun tugged at her scarf, eyes fixed on Nayeon. "Are you cold? Your nose is red."

Nayeon pulled her hand down from her face. "No."

"You keep rubbing your nose. You're definitely cold." Dahyun tugged her scarf loose, bundling it up before offering it. Her cheeks were ruddy even in the orange glow of the streetlamps. "Here."

"Wasn't it colder in France? You might freeze to death."

"I'll choke you with this if I have to."

Nayeon chuckled, conceded. She took the scarf from Dahyun, bundling it around her neck and tucking it into her hood. It smelled like Dahyun's soap and made Nayeon's face feel a little warmer.

"It looks good on you, eonni." Dahyun's eyes crinkled at the corners. "You look just like you did in high school."

"I'm three years older, twerp." Nayeon let the scarf hide the smile on her face. "Should've taught you how to respect your elders sooner."

"I pressed my face there," said Dahyun.

Nayeon's eyebrows furrowed."Hm?"

"I mean," Dahyun's leg bounced up and down, a habit she picked up in highschool, "you should press your face into the scarf, don't let the moisture leave your lips." Dahyun fidgeted with her gloves. "I mean, you don't have to, if you're not feeling dehydrated, but that's what my mom said to me."

"Oh". Nayeon pulled the scarf down. There was something in the air making her a little courageous. "Are you shy because it's touching my lips?"

Dahyun swung her seat, cobble rumbling as she bumped into Nayeon. "It's hygiene. Why do you make it sound so weird?"

Nayeon ignored the warmth in her cheeks. "You started it. I don't mind, though. I've done worse."

Dahyun's eyes crinkled, smile wide. "Yeah, like lick ice cream off the curbside."

It was true, but only because Dahyun promised to play her a song on the school piano. The song was Reminiscent By Yiruma, which Nayeon played on repeat in the shower for weeks after. 

Thoughts of vanilla soft-serve mixed with gravel left as Dahyun’s expression shifted from mirth to something different. Dahyun turned to her, silent, hands clasped. Eyes more sincere, the truth in them unreadable.

Nayeon’s heart pounded in a frenzy. Maybe Dahyun could hear it. Maybe Dahyun should.

Does Nayeon want her to?

Dahyun opened her mouth, then closed it. Her eyebrows creased in the way Nayeon knew to be hesitance. 

“Were you about to say something?” she asked, voice soft. Afraid to disturb whatever it was in the air that made Dahyun like this.

Dahyun shook her head, then nodded it. "We should go to France, eonni."

The streetlamps kept Dahyun's silhouette bright against the darkness of the neighborhood. She stared at her feet, rocking back and forth on the swing. "France was great, I got to see so many places and learn so much about music there. You'd love it, I'm sure. I'd see the Eiffel tower and check what time it was back in Korea just so I could call you."

It was true. Nayeon stopped at a green light that morning just to answer that call, the angry traffic noises only the background to Dahyun’s excited chatter.

Dahyun looked to her again, the light of the streetlamp catching in her irises. They held determination, but for what? "Next year. After my graduation. Let's go to France, just the two of us. "

Nayeon looked away, the erratic thumping of her chest growing unbearable. Pent-up longing threatened to spill on the cobble. Half-heartedly she reined it in. "Well, I better not get pickpocketed there."

Dahyun tugged at her jacket sleeve. "Eonni!"

"What? I didn't say no." Nayeon turned to Dahyun to tease her about something, anything to pull away from this dangerous courage building up in her heart.

It died on her lips, though. Assaulted by the sincerity on Dahyun's face.

Nayeon's heart lodged itself in her throat.

"Eonni," Dahyun said, "there's something-"

A loud horn blared before Nayeon heard the end of Dahyun's sentence. It shattered the silence, dampened the yearning in Nayeon's heart.

It came from a revving sedan on the road, the headlights blinding Nayeon momentarily as it drove by.

Dahyun snorted. "Who's awake and driving at one in the morning?"

Nayeon's shoulders slacked. "Me, later. I still have to drive twenty minutes before crashing at my parents' house."

Dahyun's laughter filled the quiet night air. Nayeon felt its warmth in her cheeks.

She missed her so much.

"Want to grab a coffee before you go, then?" Dahyun stood, the cobble crunching under her boots. "Just like old times, minus the part where you shake from the coffee."

It had been three months since Nayeon came by the 7-11 across the street. Buying drinks there marked the usual end of their Sunday night hangout. 

Nayeon’s heart sank. "Sure."

They walked side by side, shadows moving under the streetlamps as they made their way to 7-11. Through the years Dahyun had never outgrown her, but the distance of their height had grown smaller and smaller until it was only an inch.

Nayeon touched her hand to the scarf. It was warm and thick. "You want it back? I think my face recovered."

Dahyun shook her head. "It suits you." She slowed down, winter boots dodging the sleet on the concrete. “Careful here. How did you park the car?”

“With a lot of luck,” said Nayeon, slowing her pace to match Dahyun’s. This was familiar, walking beside Dahyun on a Sunday night. Nayeon used to hold Dahyun’s hand while crossing the road, until Dahyun outgrew it and Nayeon grew too shy to ask. Old habits die hard though, Nayeon’s hand itching in her pocket for the warmth of another.

“We should hold hands,” said Dahyun, eyes on her boots. She lifted one gloved hand. “Just in case.”

Nayeon jolted. “Yeah! Definitely.” She fought the eagerness bubbling up in her stomach as she reached out. “Don’t want you slipping on your first day back.”

Dahyun smiled, taking Nayeon’s hand in her own. Maybe Dahyun knew how warm it felt, how well her hand fit in her own. How much it felt like home.

The door of 7-11 opened with a small chime, the warmth of the convenience store a pleasant change from the outside. A soft Christmas melody was on the radio, the corners of the store decorated with boughs of holly and some reindeer cutouts.

Dahyun squeezed Nayeon’s hand. “Nice to be back here.”

Her heart surged in her chest. “You miss convenience store hot chocolate?”

“No, I miss you buying me free hot chocolate.” 

Nayeon laughed, letting go of Dahyun’s hand. She made a beeline for the dispensers. "Usual? My treat."

"Can I get coffee instead, eonni?" Dahyun asked, walking to another aisle. "I drink it now."

"Seriously? What has France done to you!"

"I had to! Timezones and all. Gonna stay up tonight to try to fix my body clock." Dahyun made a small sound before walking briskly to the counter.

Nayeon pulled two cups from the rack, pressing them into the dispenser of the coffee. The warmth of the coffee fit in her hand differently. "What are you buying over there?"

"Nothing important." Nayeon turned, seeing Dahyun stuff something into her pocket. Before she could prod further, her phone buzzed in her jacket pocket.

"Can you get these for me? I think mom's calling."

Dahyun walked to her, a little too close as she took the cups from Nayeon's hands. Their fingertips brushed, Dahyun's face close enough for Nayeon to imagine its warmth.

Nayeon cursed the scarf for one second before Dahyun stepped back, walking to the cashier. She calmed herself down, peeling her gloves off before answering the call.

"Honey!" Nayeon's mom spoke a little too loud. "Have you confessed yet?"

"Mom!" Nayeon bit back a curse, walking to the aisle for Mentos and other candies. "She's here, she might hear you!"

"Good! Dahyun! Come over to our house we’ve missed you-"

"No, mom." She glanced over the shelves. Dahyun was talking to the cashier. "Not tonight, okay? She just got back."

"You're just a chicken, honey. You better ask her out before we go skiing, your father got you a cute room together-”

“Mom!”

“Aside from that, it’s so late already. Why don't you just sleep over at Dahyun's? I'm sure her mom would love that."

Dahyun turned, smiling at Nayeon the way that twists her stomach up in knots. She was heading her way, two cups of coffee in her hands. "No. And I'll call you on the way home."

"Hey, you better kiss her tonight! You didn't come out to me seven years ago for noth-" Nayeon ended the call with a quick "love you mom" right before Dahyun handed her a cup of coffee.

"Thanks," said Nayeon. The coffee cup warmed her hand instantaneously, and she quickly tucked her phone in her pocket to wrap her other hand around the cup.

"Is she looking for you?"

"Just worried that I'm out late." Nayeon took a sip of the coffee, convenience store bitterness hot on her tongue then her throat. Her mom had every right to pester her about the night after facing the brunt of Nayeon’s hopeless pining in the past three months. And maybe outside, in the swings of the playground, she was close to achieving something.

But now, in the garish light of the convenience store, Nayeon’s trepidation got the better of her. As it always had. 

Dahyun cut her train of thought. "Why don't you just sleep over at my place? I'm sure my mom would love-"

Nayeon choked on her coffee.

She coughed before clearing her throat. Good thing nothing spilled on the scarf. "I'm good, it's the holidays, I should stay with my parents," she said, her voice pitched a little too high from mild panic. While her mom would love the turn of events, it might just make Nayeon combust on the spot.

She took a long sip, ignoring the scalding of her throat. Another long sip.

Dahyun's eyebrows furrowed. "Eonni, you're gonna hyperventilate again."

Nayeon gulped. That was exactly how it happened on the first overnight years before, Nayeon flustered over the way Dahyun stood a little too close, cheeks a little too pink from the cold. It got better with every night they spent outside, Dahyun's presence beside her constant and comforting. Now though, after being apart from Dahyun so long, Nayeon found herself back in old habits.

"You're getting pink," said Dahyun, "maybe the scarf is too hot?"

No, it wasn't. Nayeon was pink because her heart was pumping at a hundred miles per hour, and being in Dahyun's company after so long was getting to her. Any longer and Nayeon was sure she would explode.

There was a joke in Nayeon's head, one about coffee. It was the perfect joke to diffuse her tension, deflect the conversation and end the night.

But the joke left Nayeon's head as soon as it came. Thoughts emptied from her head the moment Dahyun pulled the scarf down from her face.

And just like that, Nayeon’s heart spilled on the tiles of the convenience store floor.

"Dahyun," said Nayeon, "there's something I never told you about the day you got hit by a bike."

Before Dahyun could ask, Nayeon continued. "We were really young then, and I really thought you were going to die. But it was just a sprain, and you hugged me for the first time, and you never hugged people. I thought you were going to die, so I ran to your mom with you on my back, but you were there, you were going to be fine, and you were hugging me-"

"Eonni-"

“You were hugging me in a way that made my heart thump like those drums in the school band, and I didn’t know it yet but I knew I wanted you to hug me like that all the time-”

“Eonni, wait-”

“Dahyun.” Nayeon swallowed. Dahyun’s eyes were the widest she’s ever seen them. “It’s taking all of my courage to say this, but I’ve loved you ever since.”

She said it, eyes fixed on Dahyun’s, the words on her lips the most honest she’s been the whole night.

Immediately the heavy weight of fear fell on her. Like the chicken her mother said she was, she cowered, eyes screwed shut and hands on her ears. “Don’t say anything, Dahyun, I don’t think I can take heartbreak-”

“Eonni!” Dahyun pried Nayeon’s hands off her ears, almost spilling her coffee. “Stop talking!”

Nayeon opened her eyes. She stared at Dahyun, who was staring back at her, eyebrows furrowed and hands still gripping hers. Silence gave too much space for Nayeon’s heart to go off-time, pulse echoing in her eardrums with every second. She held her breath, eyes glued to Dahyun’s, her chest about to explode.

Dahyun’s cheeks were tinged pink, a smile slowly settling on her face. "Eonni!" Dahyun laughed, and it soothed the erratic beating of Nayeon's heart. "You beat me to it."

Dahyun’s gloved hands let go of Nayeon’s to cup her blushing face, pulling her down for a kiss. It was too short, too fast, because Dahyun pulled away. "I forgot the mints!"

Nayeon stared dumbly. "You bought mints?"

She had known Dahyun for years but only then did Nayeon ever see her face as red as a tomato. "Mom said it would help," she murmured, eyes on her winter boots. 

Nayeon liked the color on Dahyun’s face. And nothing stopped her from adding more of it. "Woman on a mission," she teased, placing her coffee cup on one of the shelves. Chocolates like Hershey's kisses.

Before Dahyun could shrink from embarrassment Nayeon cupped her face, then kissed her.

Nayeon had kissed her fair share of people, and she wouldn’t be surprised if Dahyun had done the same. It was different, exciting more from the novelty than the kiss itself.

But now, with Dahyun, it was like seeing snow for the first time. 

Childlike wonder filled Nayeon’s chest. The joy of Dahyun’s returned affection, the thrill of the kiss, set her nerves alight. Dahyun pressed closer to Nayeon, eyes fluttering shut. There were goosebumps on Dahyun’s neck where Nayeon touched them; she reveled in knowing that she caused it.

At the same time it was home, the warmth of Dahyun’s kiss familiar. Nayeon closed her eyes, falling into the sensation. Dahyun’s face fit in her hands, the scent of her soap a cherished memory. As if destined for her all this time.

"Gosh, you finally did it," yelled the clerk from the cashier. "The whole neighborhood's been waiting for years!" 

It startled Nayeon, breaking them apart.

Dahyun’s cheeks were flushed, chest heaving and eyes wide, her hands holding tightly onto Nayeon’s winter jacket. “So, that’s not how I imagined it,” she said. 

Her heart thumped again. “Since when, Dahyun?”

Dahyun looked away, eyes crinkling with a smile. “The overnight after your grad. You were moving away that night, and I felt like a part of me was leaving with you. We were on the swings and you joked about the time you almost choked on crayons just to make me laugh as a baby.” Her nose grew red, the grip on Nayeon’s jacket tighter. “You were so beautiful in the light of the streetlamps and I wanted to stay beside you for as long as I could.”

“Damn.” Nayeon pulled Dahyun into an embrace, the tenderness now different, more intimate. “I’ve been holding back all this time for nothing.”

The weight of Dahyun’s arms settled on Nayeon’s waist, her head resting on Nayeon’s shoulder. “I really missed you.”

Nayeon sighed, sinking into the embrace. “France must have sucked without me.”

“Home is home.” Dahyun pressed herself closer, the warmth welcome. "Want to stay over? I'll need help staying up."

"Just like old times?"

"No, my mom will love the development."

Nayeon pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Welcome home.”

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> special thanks to cloudydream and barefootnotea for reading this and lending me your thoughts!!! i hope you both have a wonderful christmas
> 
> to my irl beta, merry christmas! thanks for putting up with my writing antics and you're very important to me!
> 
> follow @itotorofics for fic notifs lol


End file.
